Hugo Chavez Takes Over Venezuelan TV Station

Hugo Chavez Takes Over Venezuelan TV Station

voanews.com

The Venezuelan Supreme Court has ordered a private television station to surrender its transmission equipment to the government, which is shutting the station down.

The court also ordered the Venezuelan military to guard the equipment of Radio Caracas Television as part of a ruling issued Friday. RCTV, Venezuela's oldest private broadcaster and a frequent critic of President Hugo Chavez, will go off the air Sunday.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.washingtonpost.com
news.sky.com
www.turkishpress.com

[edit on 26-5-2007 by UM_Gazz]

Now we see the dictatorship run full circle as the last thing to go is the TV station, the last critical opponent of Hugo Chavez left standing.

voanews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

We also see that nobody on this website gives a damn. Deny Ignorance, my friends.

Some of us will be talking about this. It's something we do need to be paying attention to. Give it a few years, and it'll happen here. Those of you who own shares in Fox Entertainment might want to sell now.

This is a distressing, but not unexpected, move by Chavez. He is looking to totally eliminate free speech in Venezuela. He is a dictator by any definition.

Usually a Chavez thread brings lots of response, but there is no input from his supporters this time. That is because there is no defense for his actions.

Originally posted by Justin Oldham
Give it a few years, and it'll happen here.

I don't see it happening here, a least not in the current political climate. Our society is much stronger and more educated than what Chavez is dealing with. There has been a massive brain drain from Venezuela for years now. And guess where many of the exiles end up? The USA.

It does seem the regular crowd of Chavez apologists can't explain this one.

Surely someone can spin this as being good for the people, no?

[edit on 5/27/2007 by djohnsto77]

Years?

I think months or weeks.

Fox News is the mouthpiece for now, but as soon as there is an "emergency" of any kind and the Bush Dictatorship takes over, you will see a whole new world out there.

Originally posted by dgtempe
Fox News is the mouthpiece for now, but as soon as there is an "emergency" of any kind and the Bush Dictatorship takes over, you will see a whole new world out there.

My prediction goes like this:

2009--Democrats take the White House and increase their majorities in Congress.

2010--Congress re-instates the Fairness Doctrine. FCC pushes heavy fines on right-wing broadcasters. Several big name talk show hosts retire.

2011--Attorneys for Fox Entertainment hold a press conference after losing a Federal Superior Court appeal to many of the fines leveled against Fix News Channel. "We regret that the media culture has been so radically changed by the political forces in Washington. A voice of protest have been silenced here today."

Even though I generally like Chavez, and have supported his nationalizing his countries
energy and oil infrastructure, I really think this is a mistake that in the short and long
term will cost him support from a good many people who would normally support him.


I have to say though, in his defence, even though it's not an excuse, so don't think I
support this or consider it right, but how long would it be before anyone would want to
shut down a place if they are constantly verbally attacking you, not that it's right.

Originally posted by iori_komei
I have to say though, in his defence, even though it's not an excuse, so don't think I
support this or consider it right, but how long would it be before anyone would want to
shut down a place if they are constantly verbally attacking you, not that it's right.

It says a lot about any politician or political party when they can't take criticism. I'm a public figure, and I'm expected to take criticism. If I were the President of the Moon, I'd still be expected to take criticism. Tyrants silence the media when it suits their purposes.

I'm much the same as iori. I supported what he has done previously with trying to sort his country out, but this is a step too far. he is also trying to get anyone who support's him to go under a single political banner, which to me is another dangerous move.

So for me, a previous Chavez supporter (after all, he was elected - with more of the vote than Bush got in the US), I am beginning to think he is swaying to far in one direction, which isn't a good thing.

Originally posted by Justin Oldham
My prediction goes like this:

2009--Democrats take the White House and increase their majorities in Congress.

2010--Congress re-instates the Fairness Doctrine. FCC pushes heavy fines on right-wing broadcasters. Several big name talk show hosts retire.

2011--Attorneys for Fox Entertainment hold a press conference after losing a Federal Superior Court appeal to many of the fines leveled against Fix News Channel. "We regret that the media culture has been so radically changed by the political forces in Washington. A voice of protest have been silenced here today."

I hardly think that Fox News would have any problem with implementation of the Fairness Doctrine. They routinely extend invitations to left-wing, liberal guests to appear on their shows. Many times, if not most times, these invitations are declined. The liberals are afraid of the sunlight, and they certainly cannot stand on their own two feet as evidenced by the failure of Air America Radio and other attempts at indoctrination.

Protestors Object To Shutdown Of TV Station

Thousands of protestors took to the street this weekend to protest the decision by Hugo Chavez to not renew the broadcast license of RCTV, the country's most popular TV station. Chavez is attempting to shut down all avenues of free speech in Venezuela in his move to place the country under his dictatorship.

Protests

I am amazed that it takes this for Chavez'a defenders to say this is wrong, yet they apparently didn't see anything wrong when Chavez implemented the Avila plan in April of 2002, when many Venezuelans were shot dead in the head or chest, or were injured by the military and Chavistas, yet the defenders of Chavez tried to find any and every excuse to claim this was done by the oponents to Chavez, even though none of the shooters were imprisoned even though there were photos and videos of some of the assailants...

Plan Ávila was a military contingency plan by the Venezuelan Army meant to restore order in Caracas during episodes of widespread civil unrest.[1][2] The activation of Plan Ávila was ordered by current Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez on April 11, 2002.[3] Saying that sending out soldiers to confront a civilian demonstration could result in a massacre, high-ranking members within the Armed Forces refused to carry out the Plan when ordered to do so by Chávez.[3][2]

On August 27, 2002, the Interamerican Court of Human Rights[4] found that the implementation of Plan Ávila by the Carlos Andrés Pérez regime in response to the 1989 riots known as the Caracazo had resulted in massive human rights violations, and ordered the Venezuelan government to review its military contingency planning to conform to International Human Rights standards.

en.wikipedia.org...

Chavez himself said that noone would put him out of office, not even if most Venezuelans voted against him in the referendum. Not even after Venezuelans who voted against Chavez in the Referendum were fired en mass did the defenders of Chavez protest in the least...

Yes, this is another sign that Venezuela is a "real dictatorship"...but there have been worse signs than this one yet, Chavez's defenders have always found one or another way to dismiss what has been happening in Venezuela since Chavez took office.

BTW, this won't happen in the U.S. At least not meanwhile a Republican is president.


[edit on 28-5-2007 by Muaddib]

He has done much to tackle poverty in his Country and has won the admiration of me and many others. But, this is a bridge too fair. Chavez is basically creating a cult of personality in Venezuela now.

but Justin Oldham makes a VERY good point. In the United Kingdom, the government is now starting to investigate the power of Murdoch (good thing, yes). But the remarks made about Channel Four that it should become "state controlled" is a worry. Do I think the British government will break Murdoch's power? yes, of course. Its not the point though.

The United Kingdom government has the power to seize the media in the event of an emergency. Our emergency Act (Civil Contingencies Act 2004) basically allows the government, if it likes, to bring about a Coup D'Etat if it likes.

Originally posted by infinite
He has done much to tackle poverty in his Country and has won the admiration of me and many others. But, this is a bridge too fair. Chavez is basically creating a cult of personality in Venezuela now.

And tell us how exactly do you know this is true since Chavez has been working on controlling statistics, much the same as his mentor castro has been doing in Cuba, since he got in office?...

And now that there won't be any TV programs, or radio programs to criticize Chavez, what makes you think you will hear the truth about what is happening in Venezuela?...

Dictator Chavez takes one more step to turn that country into his own personal playground and all the Chavez apologists can do is change the subject to Bush bashing and/or to bashing Fox news??

working on controlling statistics

All governments twist statistics, even in Europe and America. Chavez isn't the first and certainly not the last.

And now that there won't be any TV programs, or radio programs to criticize Chavez, what makes you think you will hear the truth about what is happening in Venezuela?...

and thats why i said...

"a bridge too far" and "cult of personality"

Dictator Chavez takes one more step to turn that country into his own personal playground and all the Chavez apologists can do is change the subject to Bush bashing and/or to bashing Fox news??

I don't think its Bush bashing, what I think people are getting out is that the President (or the executive of the United States) holds too much power now. I recall hearing plenty of American politicians talking about it on FOX,CNN, etc. There is a good article about devolution of powers to State levels.

But if the President of the United States was to try and "do a Chavez" it would probably result in a revolution.

Originally posted by infinite
if the President of the United States was to try and "do a Chavez" it would probably result in a revolution.

It better result in revolution if that happened!! I hope to God that we Americans, as a hole, have not gotten so lazy (and spoiled) that we refuse to fight for our liberties, freedom, and security.

One look at Venezuela should be enough to scare any sensible American into vigilance.

[edit on 5/28/2007 by FlyersFan]

I remember watching a documentary a few years ago about the coup in Venezuela, shot by a UK team who found themselves caught up in the events.
They were on hand during the demonstrations when the shooting started. The anti Chevez media and, so it seemed, world media showed footage of pro Chavez supporters (police and military) firing weapons which we were told were being fired at the anti Chavez protestors. However, the UK team footage showed clearly that they were in fact returning fire in the direction the shots had come from, not at or any where near the anti Chavez marchers.
In fact, the whole thing seemed to be a completely manufactured event. The anti Chavez march was never meant to go anywhere the pro Chavez supporters and the government building but this was changed after the march got underway. To say the whole thing was a setup would be an understatement.
Can't ignore the fact that the US were in it up to their eyebrows either

If I remember correctly, there were, at that time, no television / radio stations that were government owned. All were run / backed by private investors and some may even have been receiving money from US sources to undermine Chavez and his supporters. So, on the one hand it may seem extreme to shut down a Tv / Radio station but maybe not so extreme if that station was receiving money from a foreign power or intel agency.
It may be a form of censorship but hasn't that happened in the US and UK too? Are there not people who have had careers ruined by government and it's shills simply for dissenting? Haven't people been taken off the air for saying the wrong thing about the government?



[edit on 28-5-2007 by Britguy]